I’m Debuting With The Bias I Killed - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 31
One saving grace: whether it was Jang Hyun-jun or Nam Jun-ho, pride ran deep in them both, but ambition ran deeper still. The moment they heard my arrangement was solid, their stubborn resistance crumbled without ceremony.
Their goal had always been the same anyway. Only the method of pursuit differed.
And more than anything—
‘Nobody’s keen to repeat yesterday’s fiasco twice over.’
“So we should drop the hip-hop vibe and focus on clean lines instead, yeah?”
“Right. Let’s think of it as starting from scratch.”
Han Sang-yoon added his agreement flatly.
“The urban concept didn’t exactly land well with anyone anyway.”
“Got it.”
Once the direction was locked, the choreography began taking visible shape. Movement paths crystallized, key points emerged. I watched them for a moment.
Kang I-yul suddenly glanced back over his shoulder.
“……!”
Our eyes nearly met. I dropped my gaze immediately and scrawled something meaningless across my notepad.
It felt like being caught red-handed stealing glances.
When I cautiously lifted my head again, all four of them were mercifully focused on the choreography.
“Phew…….”
I exhaled in relief and plugged my earbuds back in.
Shadow Play.
Truth be told, it was a fairly well-known track even before the regression, so I knew it well.
But I’d never liked it. Moon Ho had sung it into my brain until I couldn’t stand it.
The melody was permanently nailed into my skull.
“……ha.”
A laugh leaked out.
‘Such childish memories coming back to haunt me—’
……but that’s all gone now.
Four years back in terms of the timeline, but since everything connected to me is essentially reset ten years, the producer ‘SW’ doesn’t exist on this current axis. I checked—nothing comes up in any search.
Honestly, it stung a little. All that accumulated work, all those copyrights, gone to dust.
‘Can’t be helped.’
They would’ve disappeared anyway the moment I died in that accident. Besides, this time around, once Impacter debuts, I become Kang I-yul’s dedicated producer—that’s no bad trade.
To make that happen, though.
‘Impacter has to soar.’
Not adequately. Spectacularly.
I pulled out my earbuds and lifted my head. The choreography gaining clarity, the sound falling into sync.
‘This is good.’
Our historic first stage together with Kang I-yul—it was already taking shape in my mind.
“Huff, huff…… I’m calling it here for today.”
After nearly ten hours of relentless practice, Nam Jun-ho was the first to collapse.
“Fair enough. It’s already midnight. We’ll pick the rest up in the morning.”
“Yep—”
The group session ended, but Kang I-yul didn’t leave the Practice Room.
The ankle he’d twisted a few days ago looked fine now.
‘Small mercies, I suppose…….’
“You’re…….”
I didn’t need to hear the rest. He was asking why I wasn’t leaving.
I shrugged.
“If I rest while you’re grinding, my conscience won’t let me sleep. To keep up, I’ve got to put in the work.”
When I laughed it off casually, Kang I-yul returned to practice without suspicion.
It wasn’t a complete lie.
I needed to practice, yes—but also keep watch.
……though “keep watch” sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it?
Still, just today, too many suspicious incidents had surrounded Kang I-yul.
This morning he nearly slipped on water someone had spilled. At lunch, a potted plant on a shelf was swaying precariously.
And that wasn’t all. This evening he’d barely dodged being trampled by those kids running around like foals.
‘That last one was genuinely dangerous.’
Even coincidence has limits.
Until the danger level dropped, I couldn’t afford to take my eyes off Kang I-yul.
* * *
Kang I-yul’s reason for staying to help Yu Sung-woo was simple: he disliked owing debts.
After helping choreograph the Signal Song, he’d figured the debt was cleanly settled.
Yet Yu Sung-woo had woven an offhand remark I’d made into the Arrangement, even crediting me before the original artist.
‘This doesn’t sit right with me.’
It felt like more than something a few dance lessons could settle.
And lately, strange things kept happening.
Nearly tripping on the bus, almost slipping on spilled water, nearly getting hit in the head by a flowerpot.
The odd thing was, Yu Sung-woo always seemed to be nearby when it happened.
……
As if he’d been watching over me the whole time.
“Will this work?”
That’s why I didn’t so much as frown at his strange movements.
“Watch carefully. On one-two, your arm doesn’t swing all the way around—you pause for a beat, then rotate.”
“Oh, a beat pause—like this?”
He caught the movement quickly. His timing was spot-on.
But…
‘The motion feels kind of… peculiar.’
“Did you get it right this time?”
Perfect. Which made it stranger still.
Yu Sung-woo’s dancing wasn’t one flowing piece—it was like separate fragments dancing apart. Each individual movement was there, but nothing connected.
“Put more force into it. Like this—”
I even demonstrated it myself, but the result was the same. For the first time, I began to doubt my own teaching method.
‘Is it me, or is this guy the problem?’
“Ah……”
That’s when I understood the real issue. It wasn’t my explanation. Yu Sung-woo’s body and the choreography I’d created simply didn’t match.
The Signal Song stages or the second-round Refreshing performances had plenty of movements. As long as you memorized precisely and kept the rhythm, the choreography looked decent enough.
But this was different. Relatively few movements, and the connection and flow between each step mattered most.
That meant there was nowhere to hide. Every shortcoming was laid bare.
‘This is…!’
I pressed my temples quietly.
‘I’m doubling my debt.’
What Yu Sung-woo needed now was clear: Fundamentals.
But—
‘There’s no time to teach him that now.’
Where would there be time to build Fundamentals in the middle of a Survival?
‘It’s absurd to be teaching Fundamentals at this point, anyway.’
The saving grace was that Yu Sung-woo had a definite strength—one he emphasized himself and the judges would recognize.
‘Even if his dancing falls short, he’ll be credited for his producing.’
Thinking that eased the guilt a little. I watched Yu Sung-woo’s silhouette endlessly repeating the movements before the mirror.
Awkward and stiff as it was, he never stopped.
“Look at this, I-yul.”
Yu Sung-woo turned around, breathing hard.
“Didn’t it feel a little more natural that time?”
“…Yes, a little.”
Really, truly just a little.
I exhaled shortly.
“You said you never learned dance before becoming a trainee, right?”
“Right. Never had the chance.”
……
“Sorry. Feels like I’m always putting you out.”
I moved to his side instead of answering.
“This is just basic Fundamentals posture—real simple. It’s good to know when you’re doing this kind of dance.”
I adjusted the angle of his fingers first.
Straighten the torso, find your center, keep the line flowing clean.
Yu Sung-woo immediately followed my lead, and I knew I was right.
‘It was definitely lacking in Fundamentals.’
You can’t build on nothing.
After a brief moment of thought, I showed him the Wave.
“The Wave isn’t just your arm flailing around—it has to flow like this.”
The movement that started from my fingertips traveled smoothly through my wrist, arm, and shoulder.
“Wow, let me try.”
Yu Sung-woo bobbed his fingers up to his shoulder, working intently at the Wave.
“……Ah.”
Kang I-yul fell silent for a moment.
It was the same movement, so why did it look like that?
It felt like discovering some unknown creature. He wanted to record every single one of his gestures.
“Well?”
Kang I-yul quietly averted his gaze.
“……I’ll show you the next movement.”
There was only one conclusion.
Forget the fundamentals—right now, getting the choreography down was all that mattered.
* * *
I-yul’s one-on-one choreography lessons were incredibly useful. It was a bit jarring when he’d suddenly throw in fundamentals exercises, but still.
When I showed him the Wave I’d picked up by flipping the hourglass a few times, I even got a brief word of praise.
Yeah, even if I’m hopeless at everything else, at least I can pull off a decent Wave.
Anyway, it’s all valuable advice that’s sinking in, so I’m practicing the way he tells me to.
……Though of course, practice doesn’t guarantee everything will work.
Once the Concept became clear, the choreography, the structure, the Arrangement—everything picked up speed.
The problem was just one thing: my body.
The choreography was way too much for my dancing ability. There were days I actually resented I-yul’s brilliant talent. Life really is something you have to live long to understand.
Still, thanks to the seamlessly incorporated movements, I made it through the midterm evaluation without any major issues.
Three days left.
I had one final task remaining.
It was all about finding that one killer move to replace Kang I-yul’s stolen Killing Part.
True, I was doing fine as it was. But compared to the impact of the “Bloom” stage from before the regression, it still felt lacking.
Especially since that shameless bastard Go Jae-sung stole the gesture and even got praise for it.
“……Hmm.”
I racked my brain hard.
All of Kang I-yul’s stages, fancams, broadcasts.
‘The one that got the best reaction and fits this Concept well……’
Damn. There really isn’t one.
I wracked my brain to the fullest, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. The ones with great reactions didn’t fit the Concept, and the ones that fit the Concept lacked impact.
Then one stage suddenly came to mind.
It was a cable English program called “Today’s K-pop Star” that aired after Go Jae-sung’s first major blunder. Choi Woon-jo had been flying around the entire shoot, and he’d even managed to snag the next MC spot.
‘A very helpful program that even gave us hopeless idols a solo fancam……’
On that show, Kang I-yul had performed one particular stage.
He’d fused contemporary dance with a pop song that had an eerie, unsettling atmosphere—the choreography was bizarre yet oddly mesmerizing.
That fancam had been enthusiastically promoted by fans for a while to prove that “Impacter isn’t finished yet.” The response was pretty good.
……Though all those people who dipped their toes in ended up dropping out after Go Jae-sung’s center scandal.
‘It was Impacter’s last spark.’
At that moment, a shadow fell over my head.
“Who…… Oh, I-yul?”
“……Hyung, do you have a moment?”
My heart lurched in an instant.
Crazy—Kang I-yul actually initiated a conversation with me.
“Yeah!”
I barely held back from saying something like, ‘I’ll make time even if I don’t have any—why are you asking me that?’ but I managed to keep quiet.
Then I-yul hesitated for a moment before asking his question.
“Between these two, which one do you think looks better?”
“Which ones?”
“The gestures.”
Here it comes.
The opportunity walked right up to me on its own.
I didn’t even need to worry about how to recommend a Killing Part.
“Ah—”
I played it cool on the surface. Inside, fireworks were going off—no, bombs were detonating.
‘He’s asking for my opinion!’
Until now, I’d always been the one pushing forward. Recommending styles, starting conversations, arranging practice sessions.
But now Kang I-yul was coming to me first! Asking for my opinion!
It was a historic moment.
“This is the first one.”
Kang I-yul took his position.
[Hold me tight—]
I stretched my left arm forward with force, matching the lyrics, then rotated my palm and closed it into a tight fist.
Clean and good.
“And this is the second one.”
This time, lifting my chin high, using my hand to draw the line of my jaw upward with a gesture. Even the eye contact looked sharp.
Both movements weren’t bad at all.
But I already knew the answer.
“Um, would it be okay if I suggested something else?”
“Sure.”
Had his guard dropped considerably? The approval came far too easily.
‘Perfect.’
“I was watching from the back, and this just occurred to me—”
I sprang up from where I was sitting.
“You do this, where you let your fingers flutter like this—”
Flutter.
“Cross both arms.”
Snap.
“Like you’re wrapping around something.”
I pulled my arms together, embracing the empty air.
“And then snap—turn your head once like that.”
There.
Even whipping my head around like this, no sound of bones cracking. Youth really is wonderful.
Youth has its perks.
“How’s that?”
“…….”
My demonstration had run longer than my explanation, I was so caught up in the moment.
I meant it with complete sincerity.
The problem was…….
that my body couldn’t quite execute the movements that lived in my head as Kang I-yul would perform them—there were far too many gaps between the two.
“…….”
“…….”
The Practice Room fell silent.
I forced a smile and asked again.
“How about it?”
Kang I-yul thought for a moment.
And with tremendous care, with utmost delicacy, he selected his words—and then selected them again.
“You could… just explain it in words instead.”
“Ah, yeah, of course.”
I quickly corrected my posture. As if nothing had happened.
‘I’m done for.’
“The m-movements are good though!”
I-yul’s urgent reassurance only made me more embarrassed.
It seemed that whatever I’d just performed was hardly fit to serve as a tutorial.
I Kill My Favorite and Debut (Serialized)
Author │ Yu Sseu
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digitaro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Yu Sseu 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of the contents may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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